 First edition (US) | |
| Author | Khaled Hosseini |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre |
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| Publisher | Riverhead Books (US) Bloomsbury (UK) Viking Canada (CAN) Sathish Venkatesan (IND) |
Publication date | May 21, 2013 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 402 pp (first edition, hardcover) |
| ISBN | 9781594631764 |
| OCLC | 829999614 |
And the Mountains Echoed is the third novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2013 by Riverhead Books, it deviates from Hosseini's style in his first two works through his choice to avoid focusing on any one character. Rather, the book is written similarly to a collection of short stories, with each of the nine chapters being told from the perspective of a different character. The book's foundation is built on the relationship between ten-year-old Abdullah and his three-year-old sister Pari and their father's decision to sell her to a childless couple in Kabul, an event that ties the various narratives together.
Hosseini stated his intentions to make the characters more complex and morally ambiguous. Continuing the familial theme established in his previous novels, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, And the Mountains Echoed centers on the rapport between siblings. Besides Abdullah and Pari, Hosseini introduced two other sibling and sibling-like relationships—the children's stepmother Parwana and her disabled sister Masooma and an Afghan-American doctor named Idris and his cousin Timur.
As it was Hosseini's first novel to be published in six years, And the Mountains Echoed was reportedly in high demand.[1] It received favorable pre-publication reviews and was anticipated as another strong success, reaching the top 10 on Amazon.com before its release[2] and later becoming a bestseller.[3] Five months after the publication of And the Mountains Echoed, it was reported that three million copies had been sold.[4]
- ^ Medley, Mark (May 13, 2013). "Relative unease: Khaled Hosseini discusses And The Mountains Echoed". National Post. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
- ^ Italie, Hillel (June 2, 2013). "Khaled Hosseini on his new novel "And the Mountains Echoed"". Denver Post. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
- ^ "'And the Mountains Echoed' is a local best-seller". The Seattle Times. July 7, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
- ^ "Khaled Hosseini condemns Western 'fortress mentality'". Dawn.com. October 19, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.